PBS polls opera lovers

NEW YORK -- Picky opera fans are getting a vote.

Online balloting will determine which segments will air during a December telecast on PBS to mark the 30th anniversary of Metropolitan Opera telecasts.

Voting starts Monday and ends Oct. 12 on PBS’ website, the Met said, and each voter can select 10 operas. Soprano Renée Fleming will host the telecast, which will feature the top 10 vote-getters.

Segments range from Luciano Pavarotti’s “Che gelida manina” from Puccini’s “La Bohème” in the first broadcast in 1977 through this year’s first-act finale of Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” with Juan Diego Florez, Joyce DiDonato and Peter Mattei.

Other candidates include segments from Verdi’s “Otello” with Plácido Domingo and Jon Vickers; Birgit Nilsson in Strauss’ “Elektra”; the third-act trio from Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier” with Tatiana Troyanos, Kiri Te Kanawa and Judith Blegen; Leontyne Price singing “O patria mia” from Verdi’s “Aida” in her 1985 Met farewell; and Fleming and Bryn Terfel in Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro.”